Andreas Tanis
Andreas Tanis was a Vampire of considerable age placed in exile by the order of Viktor, one of the Vampire Elders. He was once Viktor's Notary and the Vampire Coven's Historian before his exile. He appears in Underworld: Evolution and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. ''Underworld: Rise of the Lycans'' During Viktor's reign, Tanis acts as notary during meetings of the first Vampire Council and is often tasked with locating Viktor's headstrong daughter, Sonja. During one of his trips to find Sonja, he discovers she is having an affair with a Lycan servant named Lucian. Instead of informing Viktor, he warns Lucian to not give it away, making the Lycan aware that he knows. When confronted by Sonja, Tanis admits he remains silent simply for his own benefit and agrees to aid the lovers in exchange for Sonja's seat on the council. He gives the imprisoned Lucian a key to the shackles preventing him from transforming into his wolf form. Things spiral out of control when Viktor learns of the affair and condemns both Sonja and Lucian to death, sparking a war between the Vampire and Lycan species. After the death of Sonja, Lucian escapes his fate and returns with a horde of both Lycans and Werewolves, whom he uses to defeat the Coven and drive away the remaining Vampires. As Viktor prepares to face the Lycan horde with his Death Dealers, he orders Tanis to take the other two Elders to safety. Tanis and the three Elders leave what is now Lucian's castle by ship. Exile Centuries later, Tanis attains the position of official Coven Historian, but is accused of recording "malicious lies" by Viktor, who felt threatened by Tanis's knowledge of the origins of the Vampire and Lycan species. For his trouble, he is exiled by Selene, Viktor's personal replacement for Sonja, to an abandoned monastery. Over 300 years later, Selene comes to realize that what Tanis had recorded years earlier was, in fact, true. During his imprisonment, Tanis establishes a comfortable life by trading with the Lycans, providing them with UV rounds which are fatal to Vampires. In return, he receives Lycan bodyguards, as well as wine, women and other comforts, making his exile quite safe and pleasant, and causing Selene to comment that his exile seems more comfortable than she remembered. In the novelization, Selene muses that Tanis likely killed many innocent women in his attempts to find suitable Vampire lovers, given that few humans can survive the transition into a Vampire. Eventually, Tanis is gifted with Olga and Grushenka, two women who become his full-time lovers. Tanis also has dealings with the original Immortal, Alexander Corvinus. Tanis is likely the only Vampire besides Kraven and his men that were aware that Lucian was still alive. ''Underworld: Evolution'' During a sexual encounter with his two lovers, Tanis is interrupted by the sound of an alarm. To his horror, he discovers that it is Selene who tripped the alarm. He engages a trap door, dropping Selene into a Lycan pit located beneath the monastery. More Lycans are sent to attack Selene's lover, Michael Corvin. Michael and Selene kill all of Tanis's Lycans while traveling through the tunnels beneath the monastery. Tanis sends Olga and Grushenka after Selene when he realizes she has gained access to the monastery, but Selene dispatches both of them promptly. He tries to shoot her with a crossbow, but misses, and is then attacked by Michael. Tanis is initially extremely frightened by the sight of Michael, who is a Lycan-Vampire Hybrid. Out of fear, he agrees to speak with Selene and Michael. The pair tells him that the Elders Viktor and Amelia are dead and that Marcus Corvinus has become a Hybrid. Tanis explains to Selene the truth about the war between the Vampires and Lycans, and why Viktor killed her family. He also tells her how to find Alexander Corvinus, the original Immortal. He warns Selene that Marcus must not be able to release his twin brother William, as William is an uncontrollable beast filled with rage. Selene and Michael leave the monastery, while Tanis drops the bodies of his two lovers in the cellar as food for his Lycan body-guards. Before Tanis can escape, Marcus arrives and quizzes him as to where the keys to William's prison are. Tanis initially resists telling him, fearing the results of William being freed. Marcus produces a pair of wings from his back, which he uses to pin Tanis to the table. He tells Marcus that there are two keys, one which belonged to Sonja before her death, and another which is hidden within Viktor's body. Marcus then kills Tanis, despite claiming he always enjoyed his company and drinks his blood. From Tanis's Blood Memories, Marcus learns where Selene and Michael have gone, and who they intend to meet with. It's unknown if Marcus destroyed Tanis' monastery or his corpse. Personality Tanis is simply put, a cynic. He is fair minded, but is rather selfish and ambitious enough to keep silent about Sonja's affair for his own benefit to gain Sonja's seat on the council. He is easily intimated despite his respectable age. He is very intelligent and literate as befitting the official historian of the covens. He also has been shown to be very bitter towards Viktor for his banishment. He does, however, have a degree of integrity, as he was unwilling to write false history for Viktor, even when threatened with exile. Physical Description General Andreas was a relatively tall man with pale skin and short brown hair. He had brown eyes and electric yellow during his Vampire transformation. Wardrobe Andreas wore a fur-lined long robe and a necklace around his neck. Quotes Trivia * Although not mentioned explicitly, Tanis' age is in excess of 1,000 years at the time of his death. The novelization of Rise of the Lycans mentions that Sonja is only less than half Tanis's age, making Tanis already at least 400 years old during the prequel's events. * Tanis' last name is a reference to actress Kate Beckinsale's (Selene) hairdresser on the set for the first two films, Vasilios Tanis. * Tanis was created entirely to replace Kraven in Evolution, who was roundly criticized for being poorly acted. In the prequel's original script, Kraven was given a large role, but he was again removed completely and replaced with Tanis. This explains why Kraven and Tanis have similar personalities. * Tanis' last name is misspelled as "Tannis" in Rise of the Lycans. * In the novelization, when Selene learns that it had been Tanis that had been providing Lucian's clan with the Ultraviolet ammunition, she remembers, in her internal dialogue, that she had originally thought that the Lycans had acquired the UV ammunition through a Human arms dealer, called Leonid Florescu. * Selene has a persistent disdain of Tanis even after she learns the truth about Viktor. This may be because Tanis also provided Lycans with UV ammunition, and so he was essentially an enabler and accomplice to many killings of Selene's Death Dealer comrades. Also, Selene seems to be critical of any kind of cowardice in general, of which Tanis exhibits plenty. Tanis is also one of the few Vampires who knew the truth behind the murder of Selene's family, so it is plausible she also resented him for keeping this knowledge from her. Gallery es:Andreas Tanis fr:Andreas Tanis ru:Андреас Танис pl:Andreas Tanis Category:Characters Category:Evolution characters Category:Rise of the Lycans characters Category:Male characters Category:Vampires Category:Deceased